


In All My Dreams I Drown

by SouldierToTheEnd



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Angst, Bethyl Smut Week, Daryl thinks she's dead, Dreams vs. Reality, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Not Really Character Death, but she's not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-08
Updated: 2015-06-08
Packaged: 2018-04-03 10:17:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4097239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SouldierToTheEnd/pseuds/SouldierToTheEnd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She comes to him when he's broken and tired.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In All My Dreams I Drown

**Author's Note:**

> My submission for Bethyl Smut Week over at Tumblr, which is slightly late.
> 
> Based on [this prompt](http://rhumphr4.tumblr.com/post/120635801744/need-an-idea).
> 
> This is unbeta'd. Hope you enjoy!

Sometimes it was hard to move. Ever since the dead started to walk, and even before, he was quick. He had to be, in order to move out of the way of Dad’s fist or some drunk’s switchblade. It was how he managed to escape so many close calls with the walkers. Now it felt like he was too weak to even lift an arm.

He was sprawled on the dirt now, his crossbow just out of reach of his right hand. Rick had gone with that kid Noah. Something about his home. Right. Because after all this his family was still alive. Stupid kid. The rest of the group were a few meters away cooking what was left of their food, huddled together under a thick canopy of trees. He hadn’t been interacting with them much these past 17 days. Hadn’t been talking much these past 17 days.

He was partially hidden from the group by the wide trunk of the tree he was leaning against and the foliage to his side. They haven’t seen any walkers this side of the woods. Still probably wasn’t a good idea to be alone here, even if the group was within shouting distance. If a walker came up he didn’t think he’d have the energy to defend himself.

He was okay with that though.

(She’d be so disappointed in h—)

No. That way laid unsafe thoughts.

Minutes passed and he was looking up dazedly at the faint light peeking out between the trees’ branches. He could no longer hear the soft murmurs from his group. Maybe they were asleep. He should be keeping watch, they were counting on him, they always counted on him when things—

There was a gentle weight on his shoulder.

He glanced down to see a mess of light blond hair, those bright blues looking up at him sweetly.

The vision said, “Hey there, Daryl Dixon.”

He didn’t react immediately, his usual sharp senses dulled. Then he placed his dirty, scarred hand against her hair and felt its softness. “But you’re—”

“Shh. I’m here now.” She grasped his hand with both of hers and held it against her cheek.

“Beth.”

She kissed his hand. “You know, we never did finish that conversation.”

He remembered. The moment he realized what that flighty feeling meant whenever he was within touching distance of her. How he tried to tell her but could not find the words, but she somehow understood anyway.

“You were going to tell me what changed your mind.”

He said, “You know.”

“Yes. But I’d like to hear you say it.” She half sat up, leaning on his left side, her loose hair falling and brushing against his ear. She smiled and brought up her hand to cup his cheek. “What changed your mind?”

He could feel his eyes pricking, his unshed tears blurring her. He blinked to clear them. To focus on her.

“You.”

Her smile widened before she leaned down to press her lips against his.

He had kissed women before. It never felt quite like this.

He reached one hand up to curl into the back of her head (red red too much red) and his hold tightened. He leaned back abruptly. “But how?”

“Daryl, let’s not focus on that. Let’s focus on me and you.”

“But….”

“Here, feel how warm I am.” She grabbed the hand lying at his side and pressed it against her neck. “Can you feel my pulse? I’m real.”

“But I saw you,” he choked. His vision blurred again.

At that she gave him a mournful look. “Daryl… I’m sorry how this all played out. You know the last thing I want is for you to be hurt. But we’ve been through this before. They need you.”

“I’m weak.”

“No, you’re not. You’re Daryl Dixon.”

He slowly shook his head. Didn’t she understand? The one thing he wanted to protect… and he failed. “I’m not as good as you think I am.”

“Now I know that’s bullshit.” She leaned down to kiss him again, but before she could pull away to say more he wrapped his arms around her. He pressed his lips more firmly until hers yielded and his tongue slipped inside. She rested her full weight against his and ran her fingers through his greasy hair, massaging his scalp. She was soft, like he expected. Warm. He could feel the thrumming of her pulse and reveled in it. Without thinking, his knee pulled up and rubbed against her between her legs.

She sat back up and balanced herself against his stomach. She smiled again, a bit more timid than before, and grabbed the hem of her shirt to pull it off. She had a plain white cotton bra and her rib cage had light freckles, untouched by the sun. He reached up to grip her sides while her arms reached back to release the bra’s clasps. She gave him a look of anxiousness before trying to cover it up with a grin.

“You’re beautiful,” he told her.

He could feel her body relax and she pulled away the bra, tossing it to the side. Her breasts were just as pale as the rest of her body and her nipples were a light pink, puckered in the cool air. His hands moved to cup and mold them to the shape of his hands.

“Are you all right?” he asked her quietly.

She nodded. “It’s you.”

She helped him take his shirt and vest off and once his chest was bare, he pulled her back down to fit against him. She was so warm, her chest pressing against his as their kisses turned wild and hungry. This wasn’t how he imagined their first time to go, out in the woods on the hard ground. He imagined a private bedroom in a house, far from any danger. In a community like at the prison. Hell, he had their whole future planned out, which was kind of embarrassing, except. Well. This was Beth.

She grinded her lower half against his groin, moaning in his ear. “Jesus, you’re going to drive me crazy,” he whispered and she grinned.

She stood up suddenly and he groaned, bereft from her warmth and weight. Her jeans were pulled down and tossed to the side and she crouched back down, unzipping his pants. She grasped his length and stroked it carefully, glancing at his face.

“Are you sure about this?” he gasped.

“Yes. We’ve been waiting a while, haven’t we?”

She straddled his waist once more before sliding down, hovering right over his cock. She pressed her clit right against him and rubbed slowly. His breath caught as he watched the tantalizing sight. His hand reached out to her cunt and slid one finger in easy.

“I barely touched you and you’re—”  
“Like I said. I’ve been waiting for this,” she breathed.

He slipped another finger inside and again there was almost no resistance. He pumped them languidly. He noticed her eyes were shut and she was biting her lip and he stopped his fingers. “Don’t hold back. I want to hear you.”

She gave a soft groan while looking him in the eyes. She reached down to grasp his cock and stroked him to full hardness. “Lie back for me.”

He settled his shoulders against the ground while she braced one hand on his abdomen, grabbing his cock and tilted up to her. The head pushed against her entrance with ease and she lowered herself slowly until she was settled against him. He tugged her head down for another kiss and after a minute for her to adjust, he rocked against her.

Her nails bit into the meat of his bicep as she mewled, overwhelmed by the new sensations. His hands slid down her back and cupped her ass. “Beth,” he grunted. “You feel so…”

She silenced him then with a hard, unrelenting kiss. She broke their kiss and leaned back, resting her hands against his knees, and undulated her hips, making breathless gasps with every motion.

“Why haven’t we done this sooner?” she panted.

He couldn’t help it; he burst out laughing.

“Hey.” She stopped and pouted at him, but he could see the twitches at the corners of her mouth.

“I’m sorry, love.” Then he froze. He called her…

But Beth gave no indication that she heard him, except for a small smile.

He pulled her back down and rolled them over so he was on top and pressed a kiss to the side of her mouth. He rolled his hips carefully and heard the hitch in her breath. He grabbed one of her legs and hitched it up on his hip and rolled again. She shivered.

“You don’t have to go so slow.”

He grinned and thrust, hard and quick. Her hands clutched at his shoulders as she threw her head back with a groan.

This was nearing its end too quickly. All of his senses were being overwhelmed. By her scent, her movements, her moans, the feeling of her clenching around him. It was too much and he had dreamed about this before and this was perfect, too perfect, she was with him at last.

With one last grunt, he pulled out and emptied himself on her stomach, shaking from the force of his orgasm. As soon as he recovered, and before she could react, he leaned down to press his tongue against her clit. She jerked from the unexpected pressure and came.

He moved to the side and gave her one last sweet kiss before turning onto his back. The sun was nearly all the way down and he could see a bare outline of her form.

“That was nice,” she said brightly.

He chuckled. He buried his face into her neck, memorizing the feel of her and her scent. “I’ve missed you.”

She didn’t answer, instead pulling her arms up to wrap around him. The post-orgasm bliss gently took him under.

\---

Someone was shaking his shoulder and while usually he would react instantly and violently, it took him a while to resurface. He opened to his eyes to see Carol hovering over him.

“It’s late,” she said. “And I’d feel better if you were sleeping with us.”

He nodded and she went back to the others without another word.

Daryl looked around. He was alone and his pants were getting uncomfortable. Figures.

He should’ve known better. She was gone. There was no changing that.

He went back to camp and didn’t fall asleep again.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope it wasn't too bad.
> 
> Follow me on [my tumblr](http://souldiertotheend.tumblr.com) and we can cry over Beth together!


End file.
